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Drawing your graffiti tag quickly certainly can be the a valuable skill if you are trying to write your it on the side of a building when you’re not supposed to, or perhaps on the side of a rail car that might roll out any minute. This is not something I advise.. .which brings us to a a very important issue.  Where you draw your graffiti letters matters. Drawing graffiti letters on buildings and others property without permission is illegal and is called vandalism. A police record is not something a reputable artist wants to have, so stick to paper, canvas and surfaces you have permission to draw on otherwise you may have only the inside of prison walls to paint on.

Today’s successful graffiti artist use their black books, which is generally a covered pad of art paper, to work out their designs and then execute larger works on canvas or on spaces which they have permission to decorate. Artist often decorate the outside of their black books with cut outs from magazines, photographs and drawings to personalize them.

There are some basic styles of graffiti letters including the bubble-like dub style lettering, 2D and wild style letters, and 3D letters.

Dub Style: This style looks like overlapping bubble letters and is usually made up of only two colors. A base color and the the outline color.

2D Letter Style: Covers a wide range of graffit lettering. The letters are generally not rounded like to the dub style but rather curve and flow, cutting hard angles in places, they can have bridging connections between letters and they  often overlap in places as well. 2D letters can be colored with shades, they often have an stylized 3D edge with strong lines for shading and 2D letters are generally set off their backgrounds with a strong outline.

2D letters are often abstracted with the addition of arrows, splits and cracks.

Wild Style letters take the abstraction of the to 2D letter style to an extreme by creating complex and intricate designs based on the word the design originated from. Wild style letter designs are often symmetrical and have bold in color. Flames are a popular way to frame a wild style lettering design.

3D letter Style: Typically has no outline and the letters are shaded in away to make them appear 3D as if they are pushing in and out of the surface they are drawn or painted on.

I spent several years painting signs for a living, and I find the distinction between graffiti letters and sign lettering to be one of the purpose of the letters. Both sign lettering and graffiti are trying to communicate  a message. Sign lettering is typically designed to be clean and readable while graffiti is often more about the artistic expression involved in creating a design based on a style of lettering. The solid understanding of the underlying skills in drawing letters for signs or letters as graffiti will serve both types of artist well in the pursuit of their objective. I have include this sections some examples of lettering styles used in sign making, comic books, and graffiti art.



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How to Draw Graffiti Letters

How to Draw graffiti Letters
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Michael
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Graffit Letters Andrea
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Draw 3D Block Letters
How to Draw 3D Chisel Letters
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Learn How to Draw Graffiti Letters

Graffiti lettering turns the common alphabet into a work art. Learning how to draw graffiti letters will allow you to create some awesome word pictures and message. Starting with the letters of a name or brief message, graffiti artists give the lettering angles and  curves to make the letters flow together, overlap and sometimes join together.

Bold outlines, gradient shading and 2d shadow techniques and style to the letters and help them stand out from the surfaces on which they are drawn or painted.

Graffiti is very personal and expressive in nature.

The graffiti drawing lessons in this section  will give you the basic techniques for drawing some awesome letters, and you are encourage to  experiment and develop your own unique flair and style of writing. Developing a “Tag” or short nick-name or handle to sign your art is part of the graffiti artist culture. Artist often create elaborate paintings based on their tag. Sometime the letters we come so abstracted or “wild” with the addition of arrows, cracks, flames and letter extensions that the letters become unreadable to those who are not very familiar with graffiti. When used as a signature, Your tag should typically be unique and something easy to sign quickly.

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How to Draw Graffiti Letters Drawing Lesson Directory
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smartDrawing Art Lesson by Michael Thoenes
 
How to Draw graffiti Letters

How to Draw Graffiti Letters: Write Your Name in Graffiti.

Write my Name in Graffiti or adapt this lesson to your own name or graffiti tag. Using your sketch as a guide, draw 2D letters around your sketchy letters. Then add a shaded edge to your letters.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT145 - Categories: Cartoon, Animation School, Graphic Design School, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep.

How to Draw 3D Letters icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lesson by Michael Thoenes
How to Draw 3D-Letters Step 6

How to Draw 3D Letters
Learn How to draw 3d Letters Step by Step. 3D block letter drawing tutorial. No special glasses required! It is an awesome feeling to be able to draw block letters that are ready to pop off the the page.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT117 - Categories: Cartoons, Graphic Design Schools Prep., Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
Draw 3D Block Letters

How to Draw 3D Block Letters
Draw cool 3D letters that appear to pop out of the page. Draw 3D block letters step by step. This drawing art lesson teaches you how. Use the sample block letters chart to write your name in 3D letters. one-point perspective and shading are covered in this drawing art lesson.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT121 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

How to Draw 3D Chisel Letters
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
How to Draw 3D Chisel Letters

How to Draw 3D Chisel Letters
Draw cool 3D chisel letters that appear to pop out of the page. Draw 3D chisel letters step by step. Dependingonthe angle of light you choose, these letters can look like they are cut into a surfaceor stand out.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT128 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

How to Draw Bubble Letters
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
How to Draw Bubble Letters

How to Draw Bubble Letters
Draw Bubble letters step by step. This drawing art lesson teaches you how. Letter spacing and shading techniques are covered in this lessons. Pencil drawing, graphic design, lettering techniques.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT129 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

Ethan
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
Graffit Letters Ethan

Drawing 2D Graffiti Outlined Letters - Ethan
Draw Cool Graffit letters with an outline and cracks.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT145 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

Maja
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
Graffit Letters Maja

Drawing 3D Graffiti Style Letters - Maja
Draw Cool 3D Graffiti letters with a squiggly background and bold colors.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT149 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

Kate
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
Graffiti 3D Letters Kate

Drawing 3D Graffiti Letters - Kate
Draw Cool Graffit letters with an outline and cracks.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MT-148 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

Theo
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
Graffit Letters theo

Drawing Graffiti Letters 2D - Theo
This graffit lettering has an Airbrushed style with an outline and drop shadows.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT146 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

Andrea
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
Graffit Letters Andrea

Drawing Graffiti Airbrush Style Letters- Andrea
Drawing Graffiti Letters is fun, write your name in graffiti letters using this example as a guide. Graffiti letters are great for putting your name on the outside of folders and note books.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MAT147 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

Spazz
icon-how-to-draw-and-paint-smart Drawing Art Lessons by Michael Thoenes
Graffit Letters SPAZZ

Draw Graffiti Letters - Spazz

Draw graffiti letters that are expressive and full of energy. Graffiti letters push the shape of standard 3D block letters to extremes. The graffiti letters in this lesson are highly stylized but still very readable.

Smart Art Institute Online Lesson MT161 - Categories: Graphic Design Schools Prep., Lettering, Kids Art Classes, Academy of Art University Prep., Graphic Design Colleges Prep., How to Draw Graffiti Letters

 

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